Drawing upon decades of experience, RAND provides research services, systematic analysis, and innovative thinking to a global clientele that includes government agencies, foundations, and private-sector firms.

The Pardee RAND Graduate School (PRGS.edu) is the largest public policy Ph.D. program in the nation and the only program based at an independent public policy research organization—the RAND Corporation.

Student Spotlight

Public Order

Featured

As one arm of the criminal justice system, law enforcement is responsible for maintaining social and public order. RAND research is relevant to many issues affecting law enforcement agencies in the United States, with a focus on public safety, quality policing and community policing, and the recruitment and retention of quality officers.

Research in the UK shows demonstrable and measurable value of mounted police in various deployment scenarios, but the decision to maintain, expand or cut mounted capacity must be based on the priorities a police force sets within limited and contracting budgets.

Budget tightening has presented police departments with challenging questions about how to deliver public safety more efficiently. Can information technology investments increase efficiency in policing, and do so cost-effectively?

Explore Law Enforcement

Changing the way police performance is measured could prevent issues leading to civil rights violations and poor police-community relations. Should California take the lead to recommend that local law enforcement agencies must report performance metrics?

Offers a case study of a Los Angeles public school--based positive youth development (PYD) program to examine the extent to which PYD principles are incorporated in school programming and how they relate to a set of youth outcomes.

Spotlight 2014 is RAND Europe’s annual review. We present our research to support policymaking in four areas of transformation: harnessing the power of ICT, safeguarding society, building healthier communities and innovating for efficiency.

Law enforcement's knowledge of information technology and its dissemination can be improved. A federal coordinator for technology-related outreach should be designated; this coordinator would work with various offices involved to develop and monitor a dissemination strategy.

Data sharing among emergency departments and law enforcement is known to reduce crime. RAND Europe researchers are developing guidance for police practitioners in England and Wales on available hospital data and its potential uses, as well as on how to establish and maintain data-sharing partnerships with NHS partners.

When police take action on the basis of race, creed, or ethnicity it is corrosive, unfair, ineffective, and can stoke the flames of police-community tension. But as we have found from a variety of assessments, law enforcement is best served when it bases its activities on risk—not on personal characteristics.

Unauthorized immigrants who previously have been removed from the United States are more than 2.5 times more likely to be rearrested after leaving jail, and are likely to be rearrested much more frequently than those who have never been removed.

Unauthorized immigrants who previously have been removed from the United States are more than 2.5 times more likely to be rearrested after leaving jail, and are likely to be rearrested much more frequently than those who have never been removed.

After two controversial grand jury decisions not to indict police in the deaths of unarmed African Americans, a White House task force has 90 days to provide recommendations for promoting accountability among law enforcement agencies to cultivate trust between police and communities. The timeline may seem impossible, but, sadly, these issues are old and the solutions are well known.

President Obama's executive action on immigration includes a new program that targets immigration enforcement at those arrested for more serious offenses and those deemed to be risks to national security. Research shows that unauthorized immigrants who have been previously deported are more likely to be rearrested after jail release, so local public safety interests and federal immigration enforcement priorities may well align around immigrants with a record of prior removal.

Mounted police have been part of British policing for the better part of two centuries but little was known about their work from an academic or practitioner standpoint. RAND Europe helped to investigate both quantitative and qualitative indicators relating to the value of mounted police in various deployment scenarios, in an effort to understand how members of the public perceive and respond to mounted police deployments.

Research in the UK shows demonstrable and measurable value of mounted police in various deployment scenarios, but the decision to maintain, expand or cut mounted capacity must be based on the priorities a police force sets within limited and contracting budgets.

Budget tightening has presented police departments with challenging questions about how to deliver public safety more efficiently. Can information technology investments increase efficiency in policing, and do so cost-effectively?

Community leaders and police departments have a responsibility to their citizens to address questions about their policing practices, such as: What are the most significant areas of concern? How severe are the problems? What are the most effective solutions?

Authorities in Ferguson would be wise to consider following Cincinnati's example in dealing with mistrust between police and citizens after the police shooting of a young black man. The city embarked on a thorough examination of racial profiling by its police force and took steps to deal with the perception that bias was influencing the way police officers performed their duties.

The Internet has become a vast untamed territory for cybercriminals. But there are ways that private companies, defense contractors, law enforcement, and other government agencies can minimize the harmful influence of cyber black markets.

License plate reader technology can be a force multiplier for law enforcement. Its ability to identify license plates of interest to police in real-time makes it an effective tool but there is also potential for abuse. Law enforcement authorities should address credible privacy concerns.

Systems that automatically read automobile license plates have the potential to save police investigative time and increase safety, but law enforcement officials must address issues related to staffing, compatibility, and privacy before the technology can reach its full potential.

Systems that automatically read automobile license plates have the potential to save police investigative time and increase safety, but law enforcement officials must address issues related to staffing, compatibility, and privacy before the technology can reach its full potential.

Topics

Related

Researcher Spotlight

Economist

Priscillia Hunt is an economist at the RAND Corporation and a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Her research interests focus on the economics of crime, particularly the effect of criminal justice policies on police and criminal behavior. Some of her current projects include the price…

Associate Research Group Director, RAND Europe

Emma Disley is an associate research group director with RAND Europe, working primarily on research related to communities, safety and justice. Prior to joining RAND, Disley worked as a researcher at Thames Valley Police, the National Policing Improvement Agency, and at the Centre for…

Stay Informed

Safety & Justice

The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest.